Disney Cars Themed Birthday Party (and Ideas for a NASCAR Party!)

My kid is obsessed with Disney/Pixar Cars. Like, seriously obsessed. He introduces himself to others as “Lightning McQueen,” and if he’s feeling particularly sassy, he’ll throw in a “Ka-Chow!” Luckily for the rest of the people in the family, Cars is a very enjoyable movie (for kids and adults), so the fact that it has regular rotation on our Blu-Ray player is not too bad. When it came time to plan his third birthday party, I knew it had to be special. He is old enough that he has much more awareness of what’s going on (unlike a first birthday party, which is really more for the friends of the parents than anyone else), so I wanted this one to be memorable. I gave him the option for a Cars or a Toy Story (another favorite of his) party, and of course, he went with Cars. (To see his jungle-themed first birthday party, click here. To see his ice cream social second birthday party, click here.) As with everything we do, we wanted to make this car-themed party our own, and not full of pre-packaged licensed products. This meant a lot of DIY for our Disney Cars party supplies. Fortunately, I planned this party in the age of Pinterest, where I found a ton of inspiration (click here to see my planning inspiration board for my Cars themed birthday party)! I’m sharing it all with you today, including Pixar Cars party supplies, Disney Cars birthday party food ideas, Disney Cars birthday party decorations, Disney Cars party games, Disney Cars party favors, and even a car themed birthday playlist.

Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, I may receive a commission.  This does not cost you anything additional, and helps me to keep the rest of my content free, so thank you!

And now, for the details!

Disney Cars party supplies

For our Disney Cars birthday party decorations and Disney Cars birthday supplies, we went with a color scheme of red (for Lightning McQueen), black, and white (for the racing and checkered flags).

We used red tablecloths on all the tables, then added a racetrack runner over a red tablecloth on the food table. Our food table backdrop included a checkered flag banner from this car-themed party set on Amazon.

Continuing in the color scheme, we used black cups, red lunch plates, checkered flag dessert plates, and red and black plastic utensils. We displayed food and utensils in galvanized metal containers and trays. For a NASCAR party, incorporate yellow and blue into the color scheme as well.

The entry sign was this “Welcome to Radiator Springs, Gateway to Grayson’s Birthday” sign that I made (see details in the Disney Cars birthday printables section below) and a Route 66 sign that I printed and matted on black cardstock.

Inspired by this adorable idea from the Miggyhood blog, I created “eyes” for the windshields of our two cars out of white and black posterboard.

We had two different centerpieces. The first we made for the dining tables by stacking small tires (found for free at a place here locally where shops dispose of used tires) and adding checkered flags and a printed Route 66 sign that I matted on black cardstock.

The second smaller centerpiece was used on the Disney Cars food table and Disney Cars party favors table. It was made by sticking two checkered flags through the top of small orange cones (we needed to drill holes in the top of the cones in order to insert the flags).

One big display for our Disney Cars party decorations is this Luigi’s Casa Della Tires decoration inspired by this blog post on From Rookie to Rock Star. We found the tires for free at a place here locally where shops dispose of used tires and added checkered flags and a printable sign.

Disney Cars birthday printables

Entry sign. “Welcome to Radiator Springs, Gateway to Grayson’s Birthday.” I created this myself in Illustrator and Photoshop using these instructions, but you could probably do something similar with this free Vacation Postcard font and this free Honey Script font.

Most of the other Disney Cars birthday printables (Rusteze, Fillmore’s Organic Fuel, Sarge’s Surplus of Sweets, Flo’s V8 Café, and Ramone’s House of Body Art) are from So Wonderful, So Marvelous.

The cupcake toppers were a really easy DIY. I used this Easy DIY Cupcake Toppers method, along with images printed from Carstyling.ru.

You can also use this free Cars-themed printable label for favor or treat bags.

Disney Cars birthday party food ideas

I found so many fun Disney Cars party food ideas on Pinterest. The ones we chose were all really easy, which is an added bonus!

We made easy pulled pork sliders decorated with checkered flag picks.

Cups with ranch dipping sauce and veggie sticks were “Dipsticks,” and chicken nuggets and fries were “Nuts & Bolts.” You can also make this classic Nuts and Bolts Snack Mix recipe for a Cars or NASCAR party snack. Font for the food signs: Rocket Script.

Naturally, the dessert station was to be “Sarge’s Surplus {of Sweets}” inspired by Sarge’s Surplus Hut from the movie. 

Mini chocolate donuts were “Spare Tires.” This ended up being a really popular snack for the adults and the kids!

Instead of a cake, we served cupcakes with DIY cupcake toppers and checkered flag muffin cups. I would have loved to have done some fondant toppers like these, but the DIY paper toppers were much friendlier on the budget.

The cars themed birthday party drinks were Rusteze (sweet iced tea) and Fillmore’s Organic Fuel (lemonade).

These black solo cups were the perfect size for party beverages.

We also used this black and white checkered duct tape for water bottles instead of printable water bottle labels. I love using duct tape for water bottles, and have used this trick for several parties. Unlike paper, the duct tape doesn’t fall off when wet or tear from condensation. They are also the perfect width, so you don’t spend as much time cutting them (compared with printable paper labels).

Disney Cars party games

We found several other fun Disney Cars birthday party games that made for great activities for the kiddos.

The kids in attendance were of the perfect age to appreciate a bouncy castle, and I found a great deal on renting one here locally (Amanzi Party Rentals). You just can’t go wrong with a bounce house!

Inspired by this blog post on From Rookie to Rock Star, we created a “Guido’s Pit Stop” activity. I didn’t have the time to make this Lightning McQueen out of wood, so I made it from a few pieces of red foam board, and painted the details with acrylic paint. This turned out to be big hit amongst the kiddos. The could “wash” Lightning, “gas him up,” and “change his tires” (all in quotes since none of them involve water, gas or removal of tires).

Cars bubble bath bottle made a perfect “gas can” to place in the snack cup I attached to the car. If you can’t find a bubble bath bottle like this, use a small bottle of car oil, but make sure it’s been emptied and cleaned thoroughly first.

Car wash supplies from Home Depot worked perfectly for “washing” Lightning. Toy bolts were attached to Lightning’s wheels, and using toy wrenches and screwdrivers (all toys we already had from toy tool sets), the kids could pretend to change Lightning’s tires.

We also set up a “Ramone’s House of Body Art” station with Disney Cars temporary tattoos and some pieces of sponge that the kids could moisten to “tat” themselves up.

Tires and bean bags made for a fun competition that we called “Mater’s Tire Toss.” Prizes were Cars themed stickers and toys from Party City. Even the adults got in on this one!

Disney Cars party favors

Our Disney Cars party favors included several Cars goodies from a multi-pack like this one, along with die cast cars from a bulk set. Another favor idea is to bundle up a few mini chocolate donuts with this free printable “I ‘Wheelie’ Like You” label.

Car-themed birthday party playlist

What Cars party is complete without a Cars themed playlist? There are hundreds of options out there, so it took some time to narrow it down to these top picks.

Cars Party Playlist:

• Pink Cadillac (Bruce Springsteen)
• Drive My Car (Paul McCartney)
• Mustang Sally (Wilson Pickett)
• Roadhouse Blues (The Doors)
• Take it Easy (The Eagles)
• Guitars, Cadillacs (Dwight Yoakam)
• The Distance (CAKE)
• Running on Empty (Jackson Browne)
• Life is a Highway (Rascal Flatts)
• Little Red Corvette (Prince)
• Slow Ride (Foghat)
• Hot Rod Girl (Brian Setzer)
• 409 (The Beach Boys)
• Fun, Fun, Fun (The Beach Boys)
• Route 66 (Chuck Berry)
• Life in the Fast Lane (The Eagles)
• The Little Old Lady from Pasadena (Jan & Dean)
• Greased Lightnin’ (John Travolta/Grease Soundtrack)
• Little Deuce Couple (The Beach Boys)
• Low Rider (War)
• Up Around the Bend (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
• I’m In Love With My Car (Queen)
• Beep (Playmates)
• On The Road Again (Willie Nelson)
• Sh-Boom (The Chords) – a must for a Disney/Pixar Cars themed party!

I hope that you find some inspiration with these!  Next party I’ll cover will be my son Sawyer’s Rock n’ Roll themed first birthday party. Stay tuned!!

More kid’s birthday party themes:

• Anime-Themed Birthday Party
• Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania At-Home Watch Party
• Bendy and the Ink Machine-Themed Birthday Party
• Classic Nintendo Birthday Party (Mario Bros., Zelda, Kirby and More)
• Clifford the Big Red Dog Birthday Party
• Construction-Themed Birthday Party
• Despicable Me / Minion Birthday Party
• Dinosaur-Themed Birthday Party
• Disney Cars Birthday Party
• DIY Escape Room Kid’s Birthday Party (with lots of escape room puzzle ideas)
• Dungeons and Dragons Birthday Party
• Emoji-Themed Birthday Party
• Kid’s Ice Cream Social Birthday Party
• Safari Themed 1st Birthday Party
• LEGO Movie-Themed Birthday Party
• Minecraft-Themed Birthday Party
• PAW Patrol Party Ideas
• Pokémon-Themed Birthday Party
• Power Rangers-Themed Birthday Party
• Rock and Roll Birthday Party
• Silent Disco Party (Fun 13th Birthday Party Theme)
• The Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender Party
• Thomas the Train Birthday Party (with Free Thomas and Friends Birthday Printables)
• Tiger-Themed Birthday Party Planning Ideas